Pertussis
Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a disease that causes uncontrollable coughing. Pertussis is very contagious and it can infect infants to adults. It is very dangerous because pertussis can be a serious illness. The disease cannot be curable but, there are treatments to help make pertussis less harmful.
- a.) pathogen cause of pertussis? The pathogen, an agent that can cause diseases, that creates pertussis is a respiratory pathogen called bordetella pertussis.
- b.) how is it transmitted? Pertussis can be transmitted through sneezing or coughing at people nearby.
- c.) symptoms? Symptoms will not appear until 10 to 12 days after infection. A whoop noise is created after coughing, when the patient tries to breathe. A runny nose, a slight fever, and diarrhea are other symptoms of pertussis.
- d.) treatments? For infants who are infected, infants should be treated right away. Infants and children should get a vaccine that uses diphtheria and tetanus. Vaccines for teens and adults should get Tdap, which is a combination of tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis.
- e.) risks if untreated? If pertussis gets untreated, the infected person can spread pertussis to others. For babies, they might get seizures, pneumonia, brain damage, weight loss, and a lack of oxygen because of stopped breathing.
- f.) risks if treated? Even if pertussis is treated there is still a risk. Azithromycin, a drug used to treat pertussis, can change the electrical activity of the heart and might cause a fatal heart rhythm in a few patients.
Sources:
a.) http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/bordetella-pertussis-eng.php
b.) http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/about/causes-transmission.html
c.) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001561.htm
d.) http://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/pertussis/fact_sheet.htm
e.) http://www.kidshealth.org.nz/whooping-cough
f.) http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/clinical/treatment.html
g.) 1. http://oxygentherapyprogram.com/blog/2012/07/oxygen-therapy-and-whooping-cough/bordetella-pertussis-bacteria/
2. http://jobspapa.com/human-cell-diagram.html
a.) http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/lab-bio/res/psds-ftss/bordetella-pertussis-eng.php
b.) http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/about/causes-transmission.html
c.) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001561.htm
d.) http://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/pertussis/fact_sheet.htm
e.) http://www.kidshealth.org.nz/whooping-cough
f.) http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/clinical/treatment.html
g.) 1. http://oxygentherapyprogram.com/blog/2012/07/oxygen-therapy-and-whooping-cough/bordetella-pertussis-bacteria/
2. http://jobspapa.com/human-cell-diagram.html